


Thousand Curses, One Feeling

by Kairos27universe



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, POV Alternating, Slight Canon Divergence, endgame spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 16:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16099829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairos27universe/pseuds/Kairos27universe
Summary: A slight reimagining of the day the Investigation Team fought the ultimate source of the Fog, following Naoto and Yosuke's thoughts. From the beginning of the battle against Izanami, to the moments of utmost despair and of miraculous hope, to the aftermath of their friend's departure from the town.





	Thousand Curses, One Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> The actual events of the True Ending are not changed, but both characters' perspectives are shown in more detail, including the post-Endgame.

“ _Come on!_ You know we’ve been through way worse than this thing. This is just the send-off our leader deserves!”

Upon hearing this, everyone from the Investigation Team nods in response, determination flourishing from inside their hearts. Even Yu Narukami, who is the official leader, has nothing else to add to Yosuke’s already effective speech; so it’s Hanamura himself who continues to further boost their morale.

“Alright! Time for the grand finale!”

Naoto chuckled silently at her senpai’s boast. It was at times like these that the brown-haired boy really shined. Yu-senpai was undoubtedly the best fighter, a great strategist, and had a calm and silent complexion that soothed their hearts when they needed most. But sometimes, what they needed was… fire, passion, **_resolute words_** ; and Yosuke could really give them that when he was being serious. Which wasn’t often… but it happened, especially when they fought together in the Midnight Channel. And she was always attentive to such instances, normally feeling strangely interested. The reason for that was… something she didn’t fully understand. Or did she…? Her cheeks felt a little warmer.

The Detective Prince shook her head, setting these thoughts aside. She ought to think about this later, in a more comfortable environment than this battlefield... And maybe, she mused with a grin, she should request help from the direct source of such thoughts.

Her mind and eyes were redirected back to the gigantic figure ahead of her: a white-cloaked figure with black, flowing hair and what seemed to be a smaller body in a straightjacket, which covered even its face. The fight was about to begin.

With a click, her pistol was loaded and ready to fire.

* * *

 

 

Yosuke felt the air around them change, as Izanami towered over them. Her decrepit, scary appearance was the just the tip of the iceberg; ever since she changed forms (like a butterfly leaving its cocoon. Except her cocoon was a giant straightjacket. And her butterfly form was a _flesh-exposed demon straight out of a gory horror movie_ ) she had started to hit hard. Like, **_really_** hard. He was lucky that he had Yukiko and Teddie healing him and the team whenever they needed. The former had done her best in keeping them all healthy, but was hit by an incoming magic spell and fainted. Chie was instructed to fall back with her and have her rest until she got better.

 Teddie soon stepped up and became the main medic. Kanji was also doing his best to attack the enemy with his strong physical attacks, but while it seemed to hurt her in the beginning of the fight, now she just winced for a few seconds with each blow...and looked perfectly fine soon afterwards. “You cannot defeat me with strength alone… Soon, you will understand”, she had said before. Maybe she had a specific weakness that they didn’t know of yet?

Still, Hanamura didn’t give up. His partner was giving out orders and tasks to the active group, guiding their actions to be precise and optimized. This prompted him (and, he imagined, the rest of the team) to keep going, to keep up to their leader’s determination as much as they could. After all, he knew that with Yu by their side, they’d come out victorious like always.

Still, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong.

The silver-haired boy had just shouted for him and everyone else to keep their guards up; at the same time he was in the middle of changing his Persona, absorbing the winged skeleton-like trumpeter in a card to later summon another one. He didn’t have his own guard up. And was defenseless when something shadowy appeared on his feet.

“Huh?”That was all he could say before the ground got black and dark hands sprouted, ready to latch onto him. Except they didn’t, because someone was faster.

“Not a chance!”

Yosuke hurried to his partner and tackled him before he could be grabbed by the attack. Yu fell on his butt, too shocked to move. Yosuke didn’t move either, but for a different reason: the hands were enveloping him, from his legs to his upper torso. He heard his friends gasp and call out to him in surprise and horror. Someone in particular had shouted his name with a high-pitched voice that he didn’t immediately recognize; but instead of focusing on that he turned his attention to the hands. He tried to move away or cut them with his kunai, but they kept his movements tightly restrained and the cuts quickly regenerated. In a few moments, he realized they were pulling him down, making him sink to the jet-black spot on the ground below him, with no way to escape.

Was he going to…?

He looked inside Narukami’s eyes, and tried to alleviate the situation with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, partner.” There was just no way he could have let him take that blow. He was their leader, the one coordinating them all, their main pillar. Their odds would be much better if he was standing, even if Yosuke needed to fall instead. Besides, Yu was his PARTNER, goddammit! That’s what partners do; they have each other’s backs!

Yosuke chuckled warmly at this thought. His legs and waist had already been swallowed, and he suddenly noticed he couldn’t feel them anymore. That terrified him a **_lot_** , so he tried to focus his mind on something else as he sank, since he didn’t want to look lame in the end. ‘ _Gotta go out coolly, ya ‘know?_ ’, was his exact thought.

He remembered the voice he had heard, and got curious about who it was. He recalled now that they had specifically called him “ _Yosuke-senpai_ ”, so he knew who the prime suspects were. His first guess was Rise, but by this point he had heard her (and her songs) enough to realize it wasn’t her. Was it Kanji, then? No, he had heard the boy’s voice cracking before and it was quite different. So by process of elimination, it could only be…

Only his head was outta the black hole now. His eyes moved to stare at Naoto, who was staring back at him, with a shocked expression. He was sure now that she was the one who shouted for his name before. Why did she have such a reaction…? He was curious to know, but it was a little late to ask. He brushed it off as the fact that he was _being swallowed by the ground_. Yeah, must be it.

The last thing he remembers before disappearing was the feeling of suffocation and dread. The growing numbness of his head. And Naoto’s pretty eyes looking at him, as he tried to keep grinning to encourage her and barely succeeded.

* * *

 

The Detective Prince was frozen in place.

“Yosuke!”

“Yosuke-senpai! Nooo!”

 She heard her friends calling for the boy, but no answer was given. He had completely disappeared. Meanwhile, Izanami chuckled mockingly at their expense.

Naoto was incredulous… _Why did he just go and do that?!_

…The worst part is that she understood exactly _why_ he did it. It was not only to save a friend who was about to be attacked, it was to save their leader. To keep their most capable fighter and strategist, alive; even if it meant sacrificing oneself. She was almost surprised at such cold judgement by Yosuke’s part. And she knew that he wasn’t the only one with this resolution in mind.

Yu-senpai had gotten up, but still seemed a bit shaken at his best friend’s sacrifice. He summoned another Persona, a red and pink-armored samurai warrior with one blade in each hand, and seemed to ponder what to do next, his breath ragged. Naoto tried to stay calm, and started readying herself to follow with their leader’s next order as she walked closer to him.

Meanwhile, her mind was filled with hundreds of thoughts. What would happen next? What would their leader do? What happened to Yosuke? What were those hands? Where did they take him? Couldn’t he have broken free from them? Was he dea--

Shirogane shook her head, to vanquish this idea as quickly as possible. There was no way he could be gone for good. Latching onto this, she started to replay in her mind the moment the brown-haired boy had saved Yu; even with the best of intentions, such course of action was so reckless, so… stupidly brave. It was exactly the kind of dumb thing he would do, with that wry smile on his face just to top it off. It reminded herself of her own reckless actions earlier that year, using herself as bait to lure out the killer and move the investigation further. Except then, she was certain she would be saved. Yosuke had no such certainty now.

Naoto’s mind suddenly stopped when she saw something appearing below her senpai. But she was prepared for it.

“No!” Was all she said, as her body quickly moved to push Narukami away from the hands of darkness. He fell back, and once again was on his butt. He immediately looked back at her as soon as he heard the gun noises. The detective was trying to shoot the hands coming from the floor, but it had no effect whatsoever. She tried to move her body and summon her Persona, but neither attempt had success. Her legs were already swallowed by the ground.

“I see…” She muttered, as she better grasped her situation. She then looked at Narukami and tried to shake off her fear by trying to reassure him. ‘ _Just like someone else already did_ ’, she thought.

“It’s okay, Yu-senpai. Just keep guiding everyone as you’ve been doing until now.” Only her shoulders and head were visible now, as the hands pulled her further into the abyss. Naoto wasn’t sure exactly what would happen to her or where they would take her, and while it was frightening, she thought that perhaps with their team’s efforts they could somehow be saved from it.

Her head was now sinking. She took a quick glance at everyone else. They all seemed pained to see her like this (Kanji’s face seemed particularly affected, though she had no idea why), but she trusted them to recompose themselves and continue to fight the evil goddess.

She was being fully enveloped by the darkness now. An image appeared on her mind in that instant: Yosuke looking at her just before he disappeared.

Maybe she’d meet him wherever he was, and they could find a way out together..?

* * *

 

A shining light calls their attention.

It phases through and completely obliterates any fog it touches, clearing their sights. Everyone finally get back to their senses and realize they’re back in Izanami’s dungeon, while said goddess is squirming in pain right in front of them.

The responsible for that was Yu Narukami, with a now powered-up Izanagi. With its new might, it demolished Izanami completely, bringing his friends back, making her accept her defeat and clearing the fog from the Midnight Channel. Slowly, the world around them starts to morph.

A breath of fresh air enters their lungs as they watch what appears to be sunlight (was there another sun in the TV World? Or were they being illuminated by the sun from the other side?) shining on the landscape. Trees and grass extend all over the horizon. Right below them was a rocky ground, and they were just beside a small waterfall that ends in a clear and beautiful river. The sky was a deep light blue; a visible departure from the often gray and yellowish tint it had previously.

They had won. As Narukami would tell them later, he was able to evolve his Persona only because he had the help and support from everyone in town he knew, the team included. None of them had clear memories of doing or saying anything to him, but at the same time… they all felt they did, somehow. Even though they should all be lost in the abyss of heavy fog and nothingness Izanami had sent them, everyone’s bonds allowed him to create a miracle.

Yosuke shivered a little remembering the dark hands and the place he had been, but quickly distracted himself by gazing over the beautiful scenario they helped to bring about. It was over now, and they were all alive and safe. That’s what matters, right?

He suddenly had this weird feeling… as if he was being watched. The boy turned his neck to look around, and stopped as his eyes met Naoto’s, who was just beside him. The detective was looking at him with a very neutral expression, while saying nothing. He had no idea exactly what she was thinking right now and he had to admit that intimidated him a little.

A few seconds later, however, her mouth changed into a smile, a little bit wider than she normally exhibited. Yosuke was surprised, but quickly flashed a warm smile back at her. He guessed she was just as glad as him that everything turned out okay, that they solved everything. They both then moved their stare to join their friends in admiring once more the new TV World.

The Prince of Junes was still a bit curious about what was up with Naoto Shirogane, but that could wait until later. The view right now was amazing. And he had another friend who he’d have to say goodbye to, soon.

* * *

 

The train started to fade in the horizon. Despite the sadness of Yu-senpai’s departure, everyone’s faces still held warm smiles; Teddie just finished making a small speech about their bonds, and how their hearts are one. The teary-eyed Naoto couldn’t agree more. The teenager was happy with how things turned out. Having friends, sharing the bad and the good moments… those things were priceless, and she would always cherish them.

They started walking home. Slowly, the group began to separate, as each of them headed to their respective houses. Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai were the first to split up, the former accompanying the later to the bus stop. Naoto wasn’t sure if they were both going to Amagi’s house or if Satonaka was just being protective, as always; but she supposed this wasn’t really her business. Rise soon went inside the Tofu Shop as they passed in front of it, giving everyone a bright smile before saying goodbye.

The Detective Prince, in the meantime, had her mind set on someone else. After the idol was gone, she silently tugged at Yosuke’s shirt, making him slow down his step. He turned his head around to look at her with confused eyes.  “Hey, Naoto…?”

Her mind replayed the moment he threw their leader out of danger and got dragged instead.

“What you did today was…quite reckless, senpai.” Shirogane said, with a seemingly serious expression. This threw him off, as she expected.

“What…?! T-that’s…” He stuttered, visibly embarrassed. “B-but everything’s well now, right? N-nothing came out of it, so it’s fine.”

She wanted to chuckle at his mumbling, but did her best to hold it back and maintain her neutral facade. The truth is she had no intention to shame him for his deed, as she had done exactly the same and only moments after him (he did not know of this, of course). What she really wanted was to tease the Prince of Junes, and to her delight, it was working.

“You got us worried.”

This made the boy feel even more nervous. He turned his head and noticed Kanji and Teddie were already quite far ahead, apparently talking between themselves. That meant he had no outside help in this conversation… but also that only she could hear him now, without interference.

“O-oh man, what do you want me to say…?” He muttered mostly to himself. Then, he looked right at the detective’s eyes, a small blush appearing on his face. He was still a little embarrassed to openly express deeper feelings to anyone besides his partner Yu, but he guessed Naoto deserved it. After all, she seemed especially scared when he was being dragged. He still didn’t quite understand why, but continued speaking anyways.

“I just… moved before I even realized it. I didn’t mean to make y’all worry.” His head hung low, in an apologetic manner; he averted his eyes and scratched his hair as he said the final word. “S-sorry…”

Naoto smiled wryly, though he didn’t notice it with his gaze away. She turned her head to the left; the restaurant Aiya was very close by. _Just as planned_ , she mused.

“If you’re sorry… maybe you should make up for it, Yosuke-senpai. Such a tense situation has surely taken its toll on me… Eating something from Aiya would help me feel invigorated.” She finished, pointing at the mentioned place. The brown-haired boy’s eyes followed where she was pointing at, and then darted back at her face. When he saw her grinning his mouth gasped in surprise.

“W-wait…! Were you pretending just now…? And just to get me to pay you a meal?! W -what are you, Chie…?!”

This time it was Naoto who stuttered. “N-no, of course not…! I was just teasing you a little...”

“You were…?” He seemed skeptical. It was understandable, since she wasn’t really one to make jokes in the group.

“But my teasing had no lies.” She said, trying to be assertive, despite the growing warmth in her cheeks. “You **did** get me worried. And besides, I never said anything about paying for me. What I asked was… Could you just…” Her face seemed like it was burning now. “…Accompany me today?”

Yosuke Hanamura was dumbfounded. Why did Naoto want to go eat somewhere with him? Why now…? In the midst of his confusion, there was only one thing he could mutter.

“Um…Sure…?” By now, the other duo was too ahead of them. He felt a little bad leaving them without saying anything, but…it’s not like he wouldn’t see them soon (Teddie especially, but he didn’t want to think about that). And well… he couldn’t deny he thought some time alone with Naoto Shirogane would be nice, after the whole mess today.

Naoto, after hearing his response, had a warm smile on her face. Things were going her way. The case was fully cleared. All her friends were safe. Her _friend_ over here was safe. And she now had the perfect opportunity to leisurely talk with him… and confirm certain suspicions she felt solidified during the fight with Izanami.

Suspicions about whether she wanted him to remain as just a friend for too long.

As they passed the restaurant’s entrance, side by side, she felt like she knew the answer already. All that was left now was to inquire a solid answer from him.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a short drabble, but I went a little too overboard... Maybe that was a good thing though?


End file.
